Dan's Comments

A request

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 20:05:33 -0400

Impeach Obama he’s a piece of shit trying to cover up the IRS scandal by attacking Syria PRASIED DIO Dave Mustaine for President Fuck the UN

Okay, I sort of asked for that.

Squashed: Passivism (and other ways of Not Helping)

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 17:10:14 -0400

Squashed: Passivism (and other ways of Not Helping):

redsofas:

squashedcomments:

redsofas:

squashed:

I don’t have much patience for cynicism. It seems like a way to rail against the evils of the status quo without doing anything to risk changing them. It’s like activism without the action. I’ll call it passivism.

I think the social media makes it particularly easy to confuse identifying and disliking a problem with solving the problem. If it’s truly impossible to fix the problem, you’ve got a good excuse for not fixing the problem. But it’s rare that it’s impossible to do what you can to fix some part of a a social ill.

I feel the same way about the relentless nitpicking at any effort to effect any sort of change. Most efforts are imperfect. It’s odd to expect more than that from imperfect people in an imperfect world. Could you do better? And if you can, why aren’t you? Earn the right to be the critic.

Do or do not.

How does one “earn the right to be a critic”?

I think it’s much more reasonable to criticize others when you’re doing the same thing they’re doing only better. Or you’re doing something similar. Or even the exact opposite. The point being you’re both engaged and active—and they’re doing something wrong.

It’s so easy to find fault in anything anybody is doing. It’s one thing to say, “I could do a better job.” It’s another entirely to actually do a better job.

But are you taking into account the fact that some people’s “right to be a critic” concerning most if not all -isms are not something that can be “earned”?

Also, not everyone has the resources to “do better”. Would the solution for them be to simply not speak until they can mirror what they’re criticizing/recommending?

I think there’s nothing wrong with telling your story. It’s your story. It’s important.

That said, we shouldn’t pretend that the various -isms arose in a vacuum. There are active and concrete steps that can be taken to confront them.

And of course I’m not asking anybody to do more than they’re capable of doing. Do what you can with what you’ve got. That applies both to those who can do a lot and those for whom getting by day-to-day is already a lot.

Squashed: Passivism (and other ways of Not Helping)

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:33:55 -0400

Squashed: Passivism (and other ways of Not Helping):

redsofas:

squashed:

I don’t have much patience for cynicism. It seems like a way to rail against the evils of the status quo without doing anything to risk changing them. It’s like activism without the action. I’ll call it passivism.

I think the social media makes it particularly easy to confuse identifying and disliking a problem with solving the problem. If it’s truly impossible to fix the problem, you’ve got a good excuse for not fixing the problem. But it’s rare that it’s impossible to do what you can to fix some part of a a social ill.

I feel the same way about the relentless nitpicking at any effort to effect any sort of change. Most efforts are imperfect. It’s odd to expect more than that from imperfect people in an imperfect world. Could you do better? And if you can, why aren’t you? Earn the right to be the critic.

Do or do not.

How does one “earn the right to be a critic”?

I think it’s much more reasonable to criticize others when you’re doing the same thing they’re doing only better. Or you’re doing something similar. Or even the exact opposite. The point being you’re both engaged and active—and they’re doing something wrong.

It’s so easy to find fault in anything anybody is doing. It’s one thing to say, “I could do a better job.” It’s another entirely to actually do a better job.

zombiecuddle: Apparently if something is both a cat and an...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:39:44 -0400

zombiecuddle:

Apparently if something is both a cat and an Internet, it’s called a “hold on a sec.” Sure, okay, why not, creepy advertiser trying to imitate organic memes and landing squarely in uncanny valley?

A Hold On A Sec is a killing-machine with near-absolute knowledge and retractable claws. If you don’t clear your browser history, a Hold On A Sec will clear you.

It likes to play with its prey before it kills.

Passivism (and other ways of Not Helping)

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:33:22 -0400

trainbust:

squashed:

I don’t have much patience for cynicism. It seems like a way to rail against the evils of the status quo without doing anything to risk changing them. It’s like activism without the action. I’ll call it passivism.

I think the social media makes it particularly easy to confuse identifying and disliking a problem with solving the problem. If it’s truly impossible to fix the problem, you’ve got a good excuse for not fixing the problem. But it’s rare that it’s impossible to do what you can to fix some part of a a social ill.

I feel the same way about the relentless nitpicking at any effort to effect any sort of change. Most efforts are imperfect. It’s odd to expect more than that from imperfect people in an imperfect world. Could you do better? And if you can, why aren’t you? Earn the right to be the critic.

Do or do not.

I def agree that people can use social media campaigns (like changing facebook pictures for child abuse) to do things that feel like they’re helping instead of actually helping. I also agree that no movement will ever be perfect.

Still, in many cases isn’t talking and even nitpicking kind of useful? A lot of stuff I’ve read on tumblr has changed my mind, or even taught me about real issues that I just didn’t know about before (like cis privilege). When media representation and misinformation or lack of awareness play a big role in creating the -ism, or problem you’re discussing, just talking can be a big help. I bet that more influential people than I have changed the way they write characters, etc., based partly on the conversations and criticism that take place here.

Talking (and even nitpicking) can be useful in many cases. And I shouldn’t imply that it isn’t. I’m just concerned that it takes the place of constructive action. Or, rather, that it scratches the activism itch without resulting in any action.

Online conversations can be useful things like:

Planning or otherwise developing materials/theories/strategies
Maybe raising awareness (But I really mean “maybe” on this. Because at some point you’re just preaching at the choir.)
Connecting and building a movement
Venting or regrouping

But all of these are cases things that are tied to some other kind of activism.

I could also add a final category.

Soul-building. Or maybe consciousness-raising or something.

I don’t mean to sound uber-flaky on that front. How would you characterize what happens where you believe something bad, somebody calls you on it, and you gradually shift into less bad thought patterns. That is a significant thing.

That said, give me a hundred people in a community, a thousand in a state, or fifty-thousand across the country, and we could move the earth on five minutes a day.

shortformblog: Hacker who outed Steubenville rapists could get more jail time than Steubenville...

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 21:44:19 -0400

shortformblog:

Hacker who outed Steubenville rapists could get more jail time than Steubenville rapists
matthewkeys:

Meet Deric Lostutter, a 26-year-old cybersecurity consultant who also goes by the moniker “KYAnonymous.” Lostutter obtained and published tweets and Instagram photos in which members of the Steubenville High School football team joked about an incident in which a 16-year-old girl was raped.

Lostutter’s actions inspired a group of people to take justice into their own hands. A hacker called “Bobcat” vandalized the Facebook page of the Steubenville football team. Other hackers took similar action.

It’s unclear if Lostutter participated in any hacking shenanigans, but if he’s indicted and found guilty of any, he faces 10 years in jail. By comparison, the Steubenville rapists received one- and two-year sentences each.

Stark difference.

A stark difference between actually a sentence actually given and the maximum sentence possible for somebody who hasn’t been indicted or convicted?

gravyholocaustsucks: Checkmate, libtard sheeple! Obama is...

Sat, 25 May 2013 05:26:09 -0400

gravyholocaustsucks:

Checkmate, libtard sheeple!

Obama is Lizard People!

AZspot: If Yahoo buys Tumblr...

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:25:39 -0400

AZspot: If Yahoo buys Tumblr...:

thecallus:

There are bulls and bears. Turns out the bulls are about to pump a billion bucks into this.

Put me in the bear camp. The dirty non secret of the Internet is that the likes of Tumblr slapped together by high school dropouts is low barrier to entry. Anyone can duplicate Tumblr.

And they do! Except it has a brand, and a user base that can’t be replicated. That is, until critical mass moves people off - like with Digg to Reddit or MySpace to Facebook or Flickr to Instagram or Blogspot to Tumblr and blah, blah, blah.

All Mayer wants with this place: cachet, and the dim prospect of retaining it for a while. It’s supposed to be a halo brand for all of Yahoo’s other services. Because quite frankly Yahoo’s biggest problem is that no one cares about it.

Being bought by Yahoo! kills the Tumblr brand by association. They are bad stewards staffed by lazy bureaucrats and their poisonously unambitious corporate culture will sideline Karp within months. Not that he was a good leader, but he was a signal of what Tumblr was. It will be clear what it has become: passe.

The platform will stagnate because adopter types like me will be onto the next gold rush, as of this post. Arguably, that peak of the s curve already came. But this just makes it official.

I think there’s truth in that. David Karp is actually an immensely genuine person. You or I might roll our eyes at the feel-good optimism of it all. But … he’s completely serious about it. But whomever Yahoo makes Tumblr overlord is more likely to be a business guy who maybe gets brands but probably can’t fake Karp’s earnestness.

As for me? Whatever. I write long, boring text posts. I have options. I don’t even like Tumblr’s brand that much.

thecallus: shortformblog: michaelhayes: heyveronica: soon YO...

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:54:41 -0400

thecallus:

shortformblog:

michaelhayes:

heyveronica:

soon

YOLO!

If Microsoft tries to acquire them it’d be Mumblr.

If Facebook tries to acquire them it’d be Fumblr.

If TheCallus wins powerball and acquires them, it will be Cumblr.

I’m rooting for the dark horse, the Drudge Report, to create Dumblr.

Same root word as “served time” and “revenge...

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:51:05 -0400

Same root word as “served time” and “revenge is a dish best served cold.”

"What do Adolf Hitler, Menachem Begin, Vladimir Putin, and Barack Obama have in common? They have all..."

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:34:34 -0400

“What do Adolf Hitler, Menachem Begin, Vladimir Putin, and Barack Obama have in common? They have all been accused of terror attacks on their own countries.”

- Why Were We Bombed again? (via azspot)

I understand that many of the things you post are presented with out comment and that (in the case of your blog) it does not imply endorsement or even agreement. But I’m still a bit surprised by this one. The whole false flag schtick seems to be so outrageous and offensive that it does not usefully contribute to the discourse.

zombiecuddle: Well played Jeremy So there was this really cool...

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:32:02 -0400

zombiecuddle:

Well played Jeremy

So there was this really cool moment at the end of that interview where the rescuer says something like, “A pretty little white girl running into a black man’s arms? I knew something was wrong.”

And it was half a joke but also half a hyper-sophisticated comment on how out of the ordinary it is to see somebody run past the casual racism we tend to accept.

But also I’m reminded about Kai from Dogtown and I wonder whether the the hero-who-talks-differently at least helps us break down some stereotypes.

thecallus: peterfeld: “They asked me to draft the copy, and I...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:59:18 -0400

thecallus:

peterfeld:

“They asked me to draft the copy, and I was happy to oblige. Since we weren’t told any more about the rationale for the shuttering than has been publicly acknowledged, that’s how I wrote it. David made some very light edits and posted, and it was received about as well as might be expected.” - Chris Mohney

Congrats on fucking yourself out of any chance at a new job in the industry, idiot. Cute trick, though.

I don’t really get the rage at Karp et al. over the sucrose sacking.

If you have an awesome hair stylist you’re really happy with but then decide that the budget just doesn’t support $50 hair cuts every month or so, it’s entirely reasonable to cut that out of the budget. And maybe you feel bad about it and recommend the stylist to somebody who can afford the $50 hair cut. And if you’re a bit sensitive about not being able to afford $50 hair cuts, maybe you say that your stylist accomplished what you wanted to accomplish so you’re winding the project down.

It still kind of sucks. But if you’re firing somebody for reasons that have nothing to do with job performance, why pretend it’s their fault?

Down Payment Rules Are at Heart of Mortgage Debate - NYTimes.com

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:46:46 -0400

Down Payment Rules Are at Heart of Mortgage Debate - NYTimes.com:

thecallus:

squashedcomments:

thecallus:

Here’s the issue, and it’s obvious: poor people can’t afford a down payment. If we price the risk of default, they also can’t afford the payments on a house at an appropriate interest rate. This has led to an outcry from advocates for federally-backed mortgages with very low down payments.

Let them have their way. Everything should be fine, until house prices fall. And that never happens!

I think it’s reasonable to ask which characteristics of risky loans increase the default risk.

We tend to commit the common fallacy of evaluating risk at two poles - when the loan is issued and when the loan is in distress. This is a very, very common problem.

Risk is something we have to continually measure, especially because it is responsive to structural market concerns. This is the entire argument behind a securities market for mortgage loans: to provide some form of early warning when we need to start anticipating rising or falling default risk.

That’s why it’s such horrible news that the government is now issuing / backing / etc. 9/10 loans and intervening with such consistency in the housing market. Now the only warning for a collapse in housing is the relative mental health of Congress. By now I sound like an angry uncle. Moving on!

Balloon payments, exploding ARMs, and so create risks for obvious reasons. The critical inquiry regarding down payment is whether there’s a certain percent down where risk tips. (Though I would expect this to vary from market to market.)

That’s why the market was / is flawed. We have an overemphasis on risk at time of origination. Continuous monitoring of risk at the borrower / systemic level is far less reliable. A lot happens over 30 years.

That’s why high down payments matter - I think we should bag all the statistical fakery and focus things that we know will decrease VaR. There is no statutory “tipping point” - it moves with the structure of the market. Lowering VaR is the only way to respond to the fact that we can’t price that risk very accurately given the many public policy / timeframe barriers to doing so.

The most reliable plug in the VaR chug? Down payment size. Fewer, smaller loans are less dangerous. Period. Rent, motherfuckers.

I would think that 5-10% should be enough to demonstrate some ability to save money over a period of time without requiring a decade of savings to get into a house.

Completely disagree. Markets are not measurements of the ethics or “goodness” of borrowers. They measure risk, and 5% down means that a 5% decline in housing leads to a very, very high % default rate. We need to have down payment rates that are substantially higher than current state.

If you start dropping much below 5% down, except in very expensive markets, I start getting a bit worried.

Bad news: the FHA can get you down to 3.5%, with a huge credit to closing costs. Worse news: all the banks know there is dead fish in the water and still don’t lend because the “market risk” portion of the VaR model is F(how do we feel today, Chairman?). Worst news: don’t worry, the government is here to help.

We really might be on the same side here. The plain vanilla mortgage is essentially a measurement of what constitutes a federal guideline for responsible lending. There is no guarantee like there would be with an FHA loan. The low downpayment reflects maximum flexibility to the lender. The question isn’t about guaranteed loans—it’s just about whether Uncle Sam needs to penalize the bank that writes a loan on a 5% down payment. Or even a 15% downpayment.

Obviously this is going to affect industry standards so nothing is clean cut.

Down Payment Rules Are at Heart of Mortgage Debate - NYTimes.com

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:18:28 -0400

Down Payment Rules Are at Heart of Mortgage Debate - NYTimes.com:

thecallus:

Here’s the issue, and it’s obvious: poor people can’t afford a down payment. If we price the risk of default, they also can’t afford the payments on a house at an appropriate interest rate. This has led to an outcry from advocates for federally-backed mortgages with very low down payments.

Let them have their way. Everything should be fine, until house prices fall. And that never happens!

I think it’s reasonable to ask which characteristics of risky loans increase the default risk. Balloon payments, exploding ARMs, and so create risks for obvious reasons. The critical inquiry regarding down payment is whether there’s a certain percent down where risk tips. (Though I would expect this to vary from market to market.)

I would think that 5-10% should be enough to demonstrate some ability to save money over a period of time without requiring a decade of savings to get into a house.

If you start dropping much below 5% down, except in very expensive markets, I start getting a bit worried.

"This is far more than a semantic question. Whether something is or is not “terrorism” has very..."

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:05:16 -0400

“This is far more than a semantic question. Whether something is or is not “terrorism” has very substantial political implications, and very significant legal consequences as well. The word “terrorism” is, at this point, one of the most potent in our political lexicon: it single-handedly ends debates, ratchets up fear levels, and justifies almost anything the government wants to do in its name. It’s hard not to suspect that the only thing distinguishing the Boston attack from Tucson, Aurora, Sandy Hook and Columbine (to say nothing of the US “shock and awe” attack on Baghdad and the mass killings in Fallujah) is that the accused Boston attackers are Muslim and the other perpetrators are not. As usual, what terrorism really means in American discourse - its operational meaning - is: violence by Muslims against Americans and their allies.”

- Glenn Greenwald (via azspot)

I was going to post this exact quote. So spot-on.

(via hipsterlibertarian)

I’m bothered by Glenn Greenwald’s willingness to distort facts in order to suit his ideological ends. The terrorism label was being used in connection with this attack long before the religion and national origin of the attackers was known. I know that. You know that. Glenn Greenwald must know that.

ThanksToYou: robot-heart-politics: annasaur: why has no one questioned the fact...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:06:59 -0400

ThanksToYou: robot-heart-politics: annasaur: why has no one questioned the fact...:

annasaur:

robot-heart-politics:

annasaur:

robot-heart-politics:

annasaur:

why has no one questioned the fact that Dzhokhar’s book-bag was WHITE and the bomb exploded in a BLACK bag?! um what?

Because there were 2 bombs and 2 bombers and the other one was carrying a black bag. We’ve never seen the second backpack.

So…

Maybe because it got blown to shit? Seems plausible.

If thats the case shouldn’t the black book bag have been blown to pieces too? They are covering something up…

And when you really think about it, how do we know either the white book bag or black book bag are real? Because what is “reality” anyway? I mean, when you think about it, aren’t we all just subatomic particles flying around in a vast nothingness? And do we even know that? I’m just saying that there’s a lot of room for interpretation about all of this. And when you think, epistimologically, how can we be certain that there’s such a place as “Boston”? I mean, I’ve been there—but that could have just been a dream. Or maybe it floated off. The cartographers could be in on it too.

You know that the price of gas had fallen from record highs...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 21:59:08 -0400

You know that the price of gas had fallen from record highs under Bush to the low it was at when Obama took office due to reduced demand caused by the recession, right? I mean nobody serious disagrees with that.

The recession, of course, was caused by a whole variety of factors, many of which can be traced directly to deliberately incompetent regulation under the Bush administration.

The climb in gas prices is caused primarily by a recovery in demand as the country recovers from the Bush recession.

If you’re going to challenge somebody to blame something on George W, make it hard.

ThanksToYou: robot-heart-politics: annasaur: why has no one questioned the fact...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 18:56:00 -0400

ThanksToYou: robot-heart-politics: annasaur: why has no one questioned the fact...:

robot-heart-politics:

annasaur:

robot-heart-politics:

annasaur:

why has no one questioned the fact that Dzhokhar’s book-bag was WHITE and the bomb exploded in a BLACK bag?! um what?

Because there were 2 bombs and 2 bombers and the other one was carrying a black bag. We’ve never seen the second backpack.

So…

Maybe because it got blown to shit? Seems plausible.

Yeah, but what happens to all things after they get blown to shit? I mean, in a way everything that ever existed is out there somehow, cosmically, I mean, like Elvis and JFK are still alive in spirit or at least in our memory and the point is why is the government hiding them? In a way isn’t death the biggest conspiracy of all?

"Fair? I think not. But, because we live in an age of acceptable misandry, most people are too polite..."

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 13:05:44 -0400

“Fair? I think not. But, because we live in an age of acceptable misandry, most people are too polite to say anything.”

- Peter Lloyd: ‘Why I’m suing my gym over their sexist women-only hours’

This is just too precious.

(via thecallus)

Why? I’m genuinely curious. Either you think women are precious, with special needs… or you think they’re equals, ya can’t have both.

Or are some people “more equal” than others?

(via mr-cappadocia)

There’s nothing genuine about your curiosity. Please proceed to the nearest kiosk and castrate yourself.
(via thecallus)
Whoa, whoa, hold on. As a hard working Castration Kiosk owner-operator, I object. When you keep referring people to me who suffer from Calcified Testicle Syndrome, it wreaks havoc on my equipment. The resale value if calcified testicles is nowhere near enough to cover the repair costs.